Hopkins doesn’t hide the fact that she’s a journalist on her social media profiles and none of her activities come as a surprise to WWAY news director Scott Pickey. “[Sara] was active on social media before we hired her,” Pickey told me. “She has a huge following that has nothing to do with her job.”

While he understands that allowing a reporter to flog products could raise eyebrows, Pickey says Hopkins does the ads on her own time. And he says her social media experience has been a net plus for the station because of what she’s been able to teach the rest of the staff.

Here’s a Vine pushing Coca-Cola:

What do you think? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page.